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WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 135 [Main Title]

Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.

Description: I. 'THE MAHMAL LEAVES FOR MECCA.' Brief footage shows the traditional religious procession of the Mahmal and Kiswa (religious carpets) at the Abbassia (Northern Cairo) starting point prior to setting out on the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca.
II. 'COTTON GOES TO WAR.' Interior footage shows male factory workers processing cotton at workstations in a Lancashire cotton mill. A female factory worker operates Dobson spinning equipment. Close up footage shows cotton being weaved. Female factory workers assemble cotton immersion suits for use by downed aircrew at sea. A female worker stitches electrical heating elements to the interior of a flight suit. Elsewhere, a female factory worker uses a Singer sewing machine to construct cotton based fire hoses. Brief interior footage shows female factory workers constructing cotton-based self-sealing fuel tanks for aircraft. A female factory worker inflates a rubberised cotton dinghy. Barrage balloons, also made of cotton, are assembled in an aircraft hangar.
'REWARDS FOR GALLANTRY.' Chinese Merchant Navy steward Poon Lin disembarks from a boat at a River Thames quayside prior to attending an investiture at Buckingham Palace (where he was awarded the British Empire Medal). The commentary states that Poon Lin survived one hundred and thirty three days at on a life raft following the sinking of his ship in the South Atlantic. Other recipients at the investiture include Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) members, New Zealand infantrymen and a United States Army Air Force (USAAF) technical sergeant (unidentified).
IV. 'SMASHING GERMAN WAR TARGETS.' United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft run up their engines and taxi in line prior to a sortie. Lightning aircraft take off, watched by USAAF personnel who stand on the side of the runway (wearing A2 leather flying jackets). A USAAF Republic P-47 (B or C) Thunderbolt fighter aircraft takes off from an undisclosed location. Aerial footage shows P-47 Thunderbolts (razorbacks) in flight. A pair of Royal Air Force (RAF) North American B-25 Mitchell bombers of 320 (Dutch) Squadron fly in loose formation. USAAF P-38 Lightning fighters make a mock firing pass on the camera aircraft. Operational footage shows an Allied bombing run on Wilhelmshaven. Stock shots show USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator and Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress bomber aircraft on operations over Germany. A USAAF B-17 crewmember wearing an A2 leather flying jacket, inspects wing battle damage on a Fortress aircraft.
V. 'RUSSIA- THE BATTLE FOR THE GUNS.' Male and female naval infantry manning a Russian coastal defence gun load propellant charges prior to firing a barrage at German positions. The Russian coastal gun fires, the footage cutting to stock shots of shells impacting. Russian Army infantry manning defensive positions around the naval gun position prepare to repulse a German attack. Two Russian infantrymen crawl along towing a Stankovy Pulemyot Maksima obr 1910g 7.62mm machine gun mounted on a Sokolov carriage. Russian infantrymen stand ready in a trench system to repel a developing German assault attempting to destroy the naval gun position. Elements of a Luftwaffe field unit assault team crawl up the hill towards the Russian positions but are killed by concentrated defensive fire. Russian infantry fire Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina obr 1941g 7.62mm sub-machine guns and a Pulemyot Degtyarova Pekhotnii obr 1928g light machine gun from the cover of a trench. German Luftwaffe field troops lie dead following the failed assault as the Russian coastal gun continues to fire.